Mountains You Have To Be Crazy To Climb

American-born rock climber, John Bachar tops the list. He had a successful climbing career as a free solo mountaineer. Milestones recorded in his climbing career include ascents in Yosemite National Park. Being a fitness fanatic, Bachar engineered the “Bachar ladder,” a device intended for training climbers. This renowned icon spent his tender years in the city of Los Angeles, California. Bachar made light work of Stoney Point bouldering hot spot, located in the northern sphere of San Fernando Valley.

The 1974 Westchester High School graduate studied at UCLA, but opted to pursue a full-time rock climbing ambition. Bachar, an obsessed fanatic of the sport, explored the pages of books about nutrition and physical training. He had pursued this agenda as a self-directed study. Later, the blooming adult cultivated the skills, which he made his own and outperformed talented climbers of his faction. Bachar’s former classmates, shared testimonies, which recollected his demeanor as a colorful character. He made a name for himself in epic climbs on the gym’s exterior walls.As Bachar grew, his obsession became more of a compulsion. He’s an icon today for his many achievements in the sport, rock climbing. In the 90s, he free soled Owens River Gorge’s “Enterprise” (5.12b) and Red Rocks’ “Gift” (5.12c) for the video series, the “Masters of Stone.” Bachar was filmed in a Michael Reardon documentary, titled “Bachar: One Man, One Myth, One Legend.” He was the director of design for a rock-climbing shoe company, Acopa International LLC. He fathered one child, Tyrus, born to Valerie Vosburg on December 3, 1996. In 2006, Bachar suffered multiple fractures of the vertebrae in a car accident on his way home from the Salt Lake City trade show, “Outdoor Retailer.” This was on August 13, 2006. A month away from the three year anniversary of this accident, John Bachar died. He was engaged in a free solo event, near Mammoth Lakes in California on July 5, 2009.

Henry Barber, born 1953 is another iconic American-born rock climber. Barber led a successful career as an American double-duty climber. His specialty skills include ice climbing and rock climbing. Nicknamed “Hot Henry,” Barber became an advocate of clean climbing. He’s a prolific free soloist, whose resume includes a first ascension. He made a name for himself traveling to different countries worldwide as a professional climber. Barber is among America’s premier rock climbers who had traveled to international borders to support the rock-climbing addiction. He also became a brand ambassador. He represented an eclectic profile of brands known for manufacturing outdoor equipment, including Patagonia and Chouinard Equipment. The athlete became an advocate of clean climbing, which he shared in slide shows and lectures. In the 1970s, Hot Henry teamed with John Bragg, John Stannard and Steve Wunsch. They formed the “Front Four,” a quartet of talented climbers.

Hot Henry became the first American-based rock climber to explore Dresden, East Germany alongside Fritz Wissner and Steve Wunsch. Barber’s testimony of Dresden’s rigorous terrain was an epitome of challenge. As a well-traveled sportsman, he made light work of the event. His documented routes, include Dresden, Australia’s Mount Arapiles, California’s Yosemite and other difficult terrains. In 1977, he challenged himself to climb waterfalls in Norway and Scotland alongside climb buddy Rob Taylor. They made Vettisfossen first ascent.

Christine Boskoff was an American mountaineer alongside her spouse, Charlie Fowler. The two met their demise on an expedition to Genyen Peak in China. Her profile reference notable achievements, including her climbs of the world’s highest crag, the Mount Everest of the Himalayan range. Her summits recorded six 8,000m, including Mount Everest twice. She’s a proud Milwaukeean graduate of the University of Wisconsin. She studied electrical engineering and was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree.

Her mountaineering career began in 1993 after her engagement in a two-day course, which inspired her to own the skill. In little time, climbing became a sheer nature of Boskoff’s being. She added the Bolivian Andes, Tariji and other milestones as notable climbs in her career. She’s explored crags in North America, Africa, Europe and Mexico. Alongside her former husband, Keith Boskoff, Christine hallmarked her ascent of Lhotse as the first North-American female mountaineer to reach the peak. Keith Boskoff lost his life to suicide in 1999. The grieving was temporary as Boskoff continued her mountaineering expeditions.

She invested in Mountain Madness, a feature of the late Scott Fischer’s estate. Fischer was a mountaineer who died on the Himalayan mountain range, Mount Everest, during an expedition. The adventure, Mountain Madness is among America’s eclectic mountaineering schools and tourist attractions to date. Boskoff became the first American sportswoman to reach the top of six 8000m mountain peaks. She’s navigated Broad Peak, Mount Everest, Gasherbrum II, Shishapangma and Cho Oyu. Winter ascents include Mount Blanc, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Matterhorn and Mount Angor. Picture

Rock climbing is an activity that has its own special following. When people go rock climbing it offers them something that many others will not experience.

For starters it can be a physical challenge that will make you push yourself every time it is tried; this is something that probably never becomes dull or boring.

In addition many feel that rock climbing offers them a feeling of freedom and adventure from what would otherwise be a run of the mill weekend or vacation.

When it comes to rock climbing not all places are created equal, some locations just do not offer the best opportunity for climbing. However there are some locations that could be considered the best place to climb.

When looking for a location to rock climb be sure to consider California.

California offers state parks that have some of the greatest climbing that can be found. There are multiple places that can be good for beginners as well as being a challenge for the most season climber.

Colorado is a state that has many great opportunities for climbers as well. Colorado has many climbing routes that will offer the climbers a challenge as well as a view that can only be seen from reaching the top.

Rock climbing in Utah can bring on its own challenges that may not be found in many other locations. Utah offers climbers an opportunity to try their hands at climbing sandstone. Climbing sandstone offers its own set of challenges because it varies in its hardness. Sandstone can be flaky and crumbly while trying to climb; it is advised to use caution when climbing.

Wyoming also offers a large variety for climbers to take advantage of. There are spots that have ideal climbing conditions and views to match. Some of the parks have over 140 established routes with a wide range of difficulties.

In addition to being known for their lobster Maine also offers some climbing opportunities that offer a view that cannot be seen just anyplace. Some of the climbing locations here have the ocean beneath them. The climbing in these locations take place on the cliffs that are on the southeastern side and repelling is the best way to get to the base. There are also routes to get back that can be a challenge or other routs that would be a great place for beginners.

If looking for one of the most challenging and breathe taking climb going to could be the location to be. Alaska offers the highest mountain in North America and has alpine conditions as well. This is not really a place to try and learn how to climb, often there has to be rescues because people have under estimated the climb as well as over estimating their abilities.

When selecting a location to go rock climbing always be sure to make a list of the things that you should bring along as well as checking with the local laws, restrictions and regulations. Many climbing locations are home to animals and birds that may be either nesting or taking care of their young.

We climb because we can; they live there because it’s their home all ways remember to climb safe and be respectful.

This is good news, cuz I can get back to my mission in life…climbing. I swear if I’m subjected to even one more episode of the crap my sister likes to watch, I’m gonna go postal.

Seriously, my family gets together and I’ll grab the remote control and flip the channel quickly over to SportsCenter. As you may have guessed, my little sister is just waiting for me to get up to pee (after 5 beers, what do you expect).

So I leave my TV post for less than 5 minutes and when I get back she’s already flipped it over to some stupid British TV show. It think it was called Downtown Abbey or something like that.

Anyways, it was a terrible show and I had a choice to either start a massive fight or leave the room immediately. I decided to stay and fight. Anyways, I wrestled the remote back into the good guys hands with ease and we were back on some football coverage in no time.

Only problem after that is 1) my sister was pissed off at me for the duration of my stay 2) my Mom supported my sister.

Whatever, the Holidays are over and I won’t have to deal with this BS for another year.

Now that I’m back home, I’m excited to get back to the climbing gym ASAP.

I’ve been a climbing gym rat now for about a month and its rad. I met all these intense climbers who have shown me some things to work on and how to get stronger (who knew how much your hand strength matters in climbing).

I’m getting ready for my first technical climb sometime in the next couple of months. Maybe one of these badass chicks can “show me the ropes” if you know what I mean. These climbing girls are climbing circles around me right now…which sucks but the view is nice

Not that I’m back I’ll keep all you psycho’s more up to date on my future plans. I hope to have my first 2014 climbing trip all scheduled here in the next couple of week.

I thought I’d take a slight break from all the climbing talk and lighten the mood a bit. I want to share something that I think your gonna love.

As you may have already read in some of my other posts that I played college Football. It was a great experience and it help me pay for college. One thing about football that I loved and still do is the big hits!

We’ll I thought football was the one and only sport to watch monster hits….that is until now! Recently I’ve been watching Hockey and let me tell you Bro its super badass.

These guys fly around the ice looking for someone to Blast into the walls. These guys are tuff. Just take a look at most hockey players sometime and you’ll notice that the majority of them are missing teeth.

So since I’ve been spending more and more time watching hockey in the evenings, I decided to get NHL GameCenter. Now I can watch as much hockey as I can handle. Since I live in Colorado, I’ve become and Avalanche fan and its been great so far in 2013 because they are actually pretty decent this year. Plus they have the new crazy coach – Patrick Wah – who might just rival me as the “Colorado Psycho”.

The only problem I have with NHL GameCenter is that every time the Avs play, I cannot watch them via Game Center. It seriously sucks cuz I spend X amount of money to watch Hockey and then no dice. I found this out the hard way and its has something to do with stupid blackout restrictions.

So I just did my first technical training for rock/mountain climbing. I was a ton of fun AND a lot harder than I anticipated. Here’s a quick list of a few things I learned so far:

Safety is so critical in this sport. You absolutely must be fully strapped in and your must double (or triple) check that everything is properly attached. Your harness and knots must be right, your climbing partner has to be paying very close attention and you must both be communicating constantly.

Their are a few code words that all climbers use to ensure they are 100% safe. They use the term belay a lot. This term means that your partner has the rope through their harness and can safely pinch the rope off in the event of a slip/fall situation. So the climber will say “On Belay?” and the partner will say “Belay On!” that means everyone is ready from a safety standpoint. The next thing the climber says is “Climbing!” and the partner responds with the affirmative “climb on!”. Then you can safely begin to climb.

Another interesting thing I learned is that a 100 lbs chick partner can safely Belay for a 225 lbs 6 foot 4 inch dude like myself. Its all about leverage. It was incredible, I was terrified that my small partner had zero chance to arrest my fall, but since she was a experienced Belayer, she was able to do it. I was so thankful.

This sport is HARDER THAN I THOUGHT. I knew it would be a challenge but in no way did I think it would be this hard. My hands and forearm muscles are still on fire. It takes so much upper body strength to hold onto the hand holds and pull yourself up. I learned that once your muscles are in the final fatigue stages, your done! Need to build up some serious stamina in the gym before heading out to a dangerous mountain.

So I signed up as a gym member and plan to try and climb at least 3 times per week. This will help to ensure I meet my goals of climbing a few technical mountains in 2014.

Anyone have any new climbing experiences to share? I’d love to hear them.

I just signed up for my first technical rock climbing session. I so stoked, I cant wait to learn how to tackle the more difficult mountains. I would like to bag a least 2 of the semi technical 14ers next year so signing up as a beginner is the first step to meeting this goal.

I’ve also been doing some online research at my favorite Colorado 14er website: 14ers.com

This site is so dope for planning your next big mountain climb. It has all the different routes mapped out and pictures for each milestone along the way. I used it for all my 2013 climbs and I am currently using it to try and decide my 10 2014 climbs.

So I’ve decided on a couple of the mountains I want to take on. For sure I’m going to do Mount Harvard and Mount of the Holy Cross. You might be wondering why I have already decided on these 2 mountains out of the 50+ mountains left to choose from.

Well, truth be told I was just hanging out on 14ers.com and Mount Harvard seemed like a good early season climb and it is near Leadville which is a pretty quick trip from Denver.

The reason I decided to choose Holy Cross is because of how Iconic that mountain is. Pick up just about any mountain climbing magazine and they have probably covered Holy Cross several times. Its epic.

Now that I have shared with you 2 of the 10 I’m planning to climb next year, I want to share with you 2 mountains I will NOT be climbing in 2014 (maybe 2015 tho). The 2 mountains I will be forgoing for latter years is the Maroon Bells. These 2 mountains are notorious for being seriously dangerous to climb. It has to do with the type of rock that make up these mountains and the technical ability required to do these. These 2 mountains are so tough that it has taken many lives over the years from people who have attempted them.

I will climb theses one day but I want to get a few more under my belt first.

Alright. Ill keep on planning and let you know where I’m going as soon as I find out myself.

If you haven’t already figured out what this blog is about then stop on over to my About Page to catch up. For everyone else its planning its all about planning….

I had a pretty good 2013 for a beginning mountain climber. I bagged Gray’s and Torrey’s peaks on the same day early in 2013. Then I crushed Bierstadt and Evans (in the same day!!). The reason I tackled these 4 first is because they were suggested by friends of mine, they are a couple of the easier ones (non technical) and they are reasonably close to Denver (where I live).

At first I just wanted to find a fun activity to keep me engaged and in shape (now that my football career is over) and that’s how it all started. I soon discovered how Bad Ass Mountain Climbing is. Its such an adrenaline rush to make it to the top of these monsters.

So I caught the Mountain Climbing bug and never looked back. I then bagged myself 5 more mountains during the 2013 Colorado mountain climbing season.

It is nearing the Holiday’s in 2013 and I plan to spend the next months planning for 2014. I would like to crush at least 10 more Colorado 14ers this year. I could plan to do five more but that wouldn’t be legit. After all, this blog has the word Psycho in it for a reason. (To me psycho means crazy and crazy equals a lot of mountain bagging so it needs to be double digits!)

Right now I’m planning to take some more technical climbing lessons. I need to join a rock climbing gym and learn all about the technical side. These technical skills will be necessary to bag mountains such as the Maroon Bells. They cannot be climbed without gear. (I suppose I could try to climb them without gear – that would be super psycho!!)

I have yet to decide on which 10 to take on in 2014 but I do want to make a couple of trips a bit further from Denver this year. I want to look towards the south near Pubelo and maybe adventure out towards the mountains near Durangoo.

If anyone has any suggestions for ones I should put on my hit list, I’d appreciate some input.